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How is the capacity of ad hoc networks improved with directional antennas?

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Abstract

The capacity of wireless ad hoc networks is constrained by the interference caused by the neighboring nodes. Gupta and Kumar have shown that the throughput for such networks is only Θ\((\frac{W}{\sqrt{n}})\) bits per second per node in a unit area domain when omnidirectional antennas are used [1]. In this paper we investigate the capacity of ad hoc wireless networks using directional antennas. Using directional antennas reduces the interference area caused by each node, thus increases the capacity of the network. We will give an expression for the capacity gain and we argue that in the limit, when the beam-width goes to zero the wireless network behaves like the wired network. In our analysis we consider both arbitrary networks and random networks where nodes are assumed to be static. We have also analyzed hybrid beamform patterns that are a mix of omnidirectional/directional and a better model of real directional antennas. Simulations are conducted for validation of our analytical results.

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References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. ECSE Department, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, 12180, USA

    Su Yi, Shivkumar Kalyanaraman & Babak Azimi-Sadjadi

  2. CSE Department, Wright State University, Dayton, OH, 45435, USA

    Yong Pei

Authors
  1. Su Yi
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  2. Yong Pei
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  3. Shivkumar Kalyanaraman
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  4. Babak Azimi-Sadjadi
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Correspondence to Su Yi.

Additional information

Su Yi received the B.S. and M.S degrees in automation from Tsinghua University, China, in 1998 and 2001, respectively. She received her Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, in December 2005. Her research interests include various topics in wireless ad hoc networks, including capacity of wireless networks, error control coding, and multimedia communications over wireless.

Yong Pei is currently a tenure-track assistant professor in the Computer Science and Engineering Department, Wright State University, Dayton, OH. Previously he was a visiting assistant professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL. He received his B.S. degree in electrical power engineering from Tsinghua University, Beijing, in 1996, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, in 1999 and 2002, respectively. His research interests include information theory, wireless communication systems and networks, and image/video compression and communications. He is a member of IEEE and ACM.

Shivkumar Kalyanaraman is an Associate Professor at the Department of Electrical, Computer and Systems Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY. He received a B.Tech degree from the Indian institute of Technology, Madras, India in July 1993, followed by M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in computer and Information Sciences at the Ohio State University in 1994 and 1997 respectively. His research interests are in network traffic management topics such as congestion control, reliability, connectionless traffic engineering, quality of service (QoS), last-mile community wireless networks, low-cost free-space-optical networks, automated network management using online simulation, multicast, multimedia networking, and performance analysis. His special interest lies in developing the interdisciplinary connections between network architecture and fields like control theory, economics, scalable simulation technologies, video compression and optoelectronics. He is a member of ACM and IEEE.

Babak Azimi-Sadjadi received his B.Sc. from Sharif University of Technology in 1989, his M.Sc. from Tehran University in 1992, and his Ph.D. from the University of Maryland at College Park in 2001 all in Electrical Engineering. He is currently with Intelligent Automation Inc. where he is a Senior Research Scientist He also has a joint appointment with the department of Electrical, Systems, and Computer Engineering of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute where he is a research assistant professor. His research interests include, nonlinear filtering, networked control systems, and wireless networks.

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Yi, S., Pei, Y., Kalyanaraman, S. et al. How is the capacity of ad hoc networks improved with directional antennas?. Wireless Netw 13, 635–648 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11276-006-8147-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11276-006-8147-0

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